Pages

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

At least 80 killed in Kabul explosion near foreign embassies

At least 80 people have been killed in a huge blast in the highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul, Afghan officials have said.

Police said the powerful car bomb exploded in an area close to the German embassy during the city's morning rush hour when the roads are packed with commuters.

Afghan officials said at least 49 people were dead and 300 wounded, but the number of casualties was expected to rise.

The force of the blast was so great that more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack.

Buildings hundreds of metres away from the explosion were damaged with windows and doors blown off their hinges.

Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said: "It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is."

A German security source said it was unclear whether German staff at their embassy had been killed or injured.

France said its embassy had been damaged, but there was no suggestion of French victims.

The area where the bomb went off is considered one of the safest in Kabul, with foreign embassies and government offices protected by dozens of 10ft-high blast walls guarded by police and national security forces.

The British, Canadian, Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies and Afghanistan's foreign ministry are also in the area of the blast.